Awakenings from Then ’til Now allows you to Embrace Your Past, Empower the Present, Enrich Your Future.

Welcome to Awakenings

Life IS history in the making. Every word we say, everything we do becomes history the moment it is said or done. Life void of memories leaves nothing but emptiness. For those who might consider history boring, think again: It is who we are, what we do and why we are here. We are certainly individuals in our thoughts and deeds but we all germinated from seeds planted long, long ago.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Halloween:Stories of ghosts, goblins and ghouls monopolize the setting as the movie makers try to outdo one another with scenes of blood and gore. I often wonder how many bottles of ketchup (or similar fake blood) are wasted as Dracula feeds upon his victims, the Werewolf mauls his prey beyond recognition or Freddy Krueger uses a glove armed with razors to kill his victims in their dreams. We scream at the sight of bizarre transformations and close our eyes as flesh melts away like candle wax exposing the skeleton underneath. Then, as if that's not enough, the Zomies right out of the grave thrash about uncontrollably with gutteral breaths and rattling groans.Of course, all horror movies do not necessarily feed upon blood and some actually bring about laughter, rather than shrills and chills. Among the best is the good old-fashioned black and white classsic Young Frankenstein staring Gene Wilder and directed by comic genius Mel Brooks. Peter Boyle portrays The Monster whose heart is soft while his appearance is grotesque. Then, there is comedy legend Marty Feldman playing Igor, or is it Egor (?), who embraces movie lines that become as natural as speech itself.

Halloween was always a fun time for us and of course, the kids. We carved pumpkins, baked cookies and definitely had plenty of candy on hand for the 'trick or treaters'. The house was decorated with cobwebs and the music of the day resonated morbid tunes as though played by the devil himself. Chains rattled, candles glowed and the eerie atmosphere ran chills up the spine. Daddy was the monster with the most hideous mask, I was Elvira, the Vamp, and the kids were little ghouls. For the kids costumes, I took old pillow cases, dyed them grey, cut holes for the neck and arms and slipped one over each kid's head. Hair was teased and mussed with just the right touch of blood painted on lips and faces with Sizzlin' Red lipstick.

One story always at the top of the list is the Halloween Daddy hid behind the bushes. The kids and I were on the front porch. A mother approached with a small child, a little boy about 3-4 years old. Daddy stepped from the shadows into the glow of the streetlight rattling the chain he was carrying. The little boy screamed, wet his pants and the mom proceeded to cuss Daddy out for being so mean. Duh! It was Halloween!

Daddy, The Monster

The second to the top is the time Daddy and Scott road around town in full Halloween gear getting ready for the night ahead. I was still teaching at the time so they decided to surprise me at school. It was the end of the school day. I was at my desk going through papers when suddenly appeared these two 'clowns', not in the sense of the circus clown mind you. However, their antics did remind me of someone right out of a circus.

Daddy decided to stand at the door in case some students were still around. He heard someone coming down the hall so he stealthily slipped back just inside the classroom. It was Tanisha stopping by for help with math homework. Needless to say, she never made it into the room. Daddy jumped out and met her square in the face! [He was wearing the same mask as the earlier Halloween.] She screamed, wet her pants and ran like her life depended upon it!

Reminds you of the little boy, doesn't it? Only this time it was a girl and she was in the 8th grade.

Awakening a few cobwebs from a night in the 80s. Oh, such a night! What a night it was, what a night it really was!

Mama: The Vamp

Nicole

Scott

On the very left in Nicole's picture is a glimpse of April's hair. Don't know what happened to her picture nor that of Wendy. There was also one of us all together on the front porch but it was not to be found in the picture album. Back in that time we did not have a digital camera so all of the photos were Kodak prints.

This is a story
of the origins of Halloween from olden times up to the present.

Photo Credit: photobucket.com

Strange shadows dart
stealthily across sparely lit streets, as dusk settles heavily on quiet
neighborhoods of tree-lined sidewalks and cheerful well-kept homes. The eerie
scream of a screechowl, more likely the brakes of a passing car, echoes deep into
the night. Looming ominously from nearly every window is the menacing glare of
smirking Jack-o-lanterns, while the often nervous refrain of "Trick or Treat"
rings out in repetitious peals. Halloween is here, and with it the shivery
remembrance of things that go bump in the night.

Halloween, a holiday once favored second to Christmas, is not as much fun as it
used to be. The last few Halloweens have brought tampering scares, such as
finding razors in apples and poisoned candy. A sick segment of society has
forced many parents to hold neighborhood parties, instead of allowing their
children to trick or treat. The tricks have been turned on the children, ruining
an a once magical evening.﻿

Photo Credit: photobucket.com

Gone are the days when children, dressed up hideously, or gaudily beautiful,
could enter the home of a stranger, and be offered chilled apple cider with
cinnamon stick straws, and homemade gingerbread, or cupcakes with orange icing
and candy corn faces. No longer can mischievous children creep up on
neighborhood porches to toss corn kernels against the front door, or generously
soap window panes, without triggering house alarms and angering guard dogs kept
behind locked fences. The mystical lure of Halloween is becoming a commercial enterprise for the sale of candy, costumes and decorations.

Photo Credit: photobucket.com

Halloween is a Christian name meaning All Hallows, or All Saint's Day, but the
custom of Halloween dates back to the Celtic cult in Northern Europe. As the
Roman conquest pushed north, the Latin festival of the harvest god, Pomona,
mingled with the Druid god, Samhain. Eventually, the Christians adopted the
Celtic rites into their own observances.Halloween signified the return
of the herds from the pasture, renewal of laws and land tenures, and the
practice of divinations with the dead, presumed to visit their homes on this
day. For both the Celts and the Anglo-Saxons, Halloween marked the eve of a new
year. The Britains were convinced that divinations concerning health, death and
luck, were most auspicious on Halloween. The devil, himself, was evoked for such
purposes.The Druid year began on November first, and on the eve of that
day, the lord of death gathered the souls of the dead who had been condemned to
enter the body of animals to decide what form they should take for the upcoming
year; the souls of the good entered the body of another human at death. The
Druids considered cats to be sacred, believing these animals had once been
human, changed into cats as punishment for evil deeds.

﻿

Photo Credit: photobucket.com

The Druid cults were outlawed by the Romans during their reign in Great Britain,
but the Celtic rites have survived, in part, to the present day. By the time
these ancient rites migrated to America, the mystic significance was lost, and
all that has remained is an evening when children can dress in outrageous
costumes, and collect candy from obliging neighbors; yet a tiny part of every
child still believes in witches, ghosts, and the nameless entities that creep
about on Halloween, relatives, to their young minds, of the monster that lives
under every child's bed.

In the ancient days, it was believed that
Halloween was the night chosen by witches and ghosts to freely roam, causing
mischief and harm. Witchcraft existed before biblical times, believed in by
ancient Egyptians, Romans and American Indians. The Christian Church held
varying opinions on witchcraft, at one time accrediting it to be an illusion,
later accepting it as a form of alliance with the devil. As late as 1768,
disbelief in witchcraft was regarded as proof of atheism.

Halloween
customs varied from country to country, but all were related to the Celtic
rites. Immigrants to this country, particularly the Scotch and Irish, introduced
some of the customs remaining today, but there were many more that are
unfamiliar. On Halloween in Scotland, women sowed hemp seed into plowed land at
midnight, repeating the formula: "Hemp seed I sow, who will my husband be, let
him come and mow." Looking over her left shoulder, a woman might see her future
mate.﻿

Photo Credit: photobucket.com

Apples and a six-pence were put into a tub of water, and whoever succeeded in
extracting either of them with his mouth, but without using his teeth, was
guaranteed a lucky year. In the highlands of Scotland in the 18th century,
families would march about their fields on Halloweem, walking from right to
left, with lighted torches, believing this would assure good crops. In other
parts of Scotland, witches were accused of stealing milk and harming cattle.
Boys took peat torches and carried them across the fields, from left to
right(widdershins), in an effort to scare the witches away.The Scots strongly believed in fairies. If a man took a three-legged stool to an
intersection of three roads, and sat on it at midnight, he might hear the names
of the people destined to die in the coming year. However, if he tossed a
garment to the fairies, they would happily revoke the death sentence.Scotland's witches held a party on Halloween. Seemingly ordinary women, who had
sold their souls to the devil, put sticks, supposedly smeared with the fat of
murdered babies, into their beds. These sticks were said to change into the
likenesses of the women, and fly up the chimney on broomsticks, attended by
black cats, the witchs' familiars.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia(Click thumbnail to enlarge.)

In Ireland, a meal of callcannon, consisting of mashed potatoes, onions and
parsnips, was solemnly served on Halloween. Stirred into this concoction, was a
ring, a thimble, a coin, and a doll. The finder of the ring would marry soon,
the finder of the doll would have many children, the thimble finder would never
marry, and the one fortunate enough to find the coin would be rich.
Jack-o-lanterns originated from Ireland, where according to newspaper editor and
writer, George William Douglas, "a stingy man named Jack was barred from Heaven
because of his penuriousness, and forbidden to enter Hell because of his
practical jokes on the devil, thus condemned to walk the earth with his lantern
until Judgement Day."

A more serious custom was the holding of the General Assembly (Freig) at Tara, in
Celtic Ireland, celebrated every three years and lasting two weeks. Human
sacrifices to the gods opened the ceremonies, the victims going up in
flames.England borrowed many of the Scotch and Irish customs, adding
﻿them to their own. Young people bobbed for apples, tied a lighted candle to
one end of a stick and an apple to the other. The stick was suspended and set
spinning, the object of the game being to bite the apple without getting burned
by the candle. This custom was a relic of the fires lighted on the eve of
Samhain in the ancient days of the Celts.

The only customs bearing no
relation to the ancient rites is the masquerade costumes of today, and Halloween
parades. But the custom of masked children asking for treats comes from the
seventeenth century, when Irish peasants begged for money to buy luxuries for
the feast of St. Columba,a sixth century priest, who founded a monastery off the
coast of Scotland.

From the north of England comes the activity known as "mischief night", marked
by shenanigans with no particular purpose, or background. Boys and young men
overturned sheds, broke windows, and damaged property. Mischief night prevails
today, but is mostly limited to throwing eggs, smashing pumpkins, and lathering
carswith shaving cream. The custom of trick or treat is observed mainly by small
children, going from house to house. The treat is almost always given, and the
trick rarely played, except by teenagers, who view Halloween as an excuse to
deviate from acceptable behavior.

Children today, knowing little or
nothing of the history and myths behind Halloween, still get exited over the
prospect of acting out their fantasies of becoming a witch, ghost, devil, or
pirate. It is still pleasurable for an adult, remembering Halloweens past, to
see the glow on a child's face as he removes his mask and assures you that he's
not really a skeleton. Watching the wide-eyed stares of young children warily
observing flickering candle-lit pumpkins, is an assurance that even today,
thousands of years beyond the witch and ghost-ridden days of the Druids, a
little of the magic of Halloween remains. Children need a little magic to become
creative adults; adults need a little magic to keep the child in them alive. So
if, on this Halloween, you notice a black cat slink past your door, trailing
behind a horde of make-believe goblins, it probably belongs to a neighbor. And
the dark shadow whisking across the face of a nearly full moon is only the wisp
of a cloud, not a witch riding a broom... probably.

By
the pricking of my thumbs,Something wicked this way comes.Open,
locks,Whoever knocks!-Shakespeare

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

WOW! When it rains it pours and often brings sunshine with smiles instead of thunder amid clouds. Of course, a little bit of thunder does bring on excitement so today I am thundering as I extend to all my family and friends another invitation.

Airing Friday, Nov 1, 2013 between 11:00 and 12:00 Pacific Time is a radio interview about my bookAwakenings. I am scheduled during the first 1/2 hour, between 11:00 and 11:30 PST, which is 2:00 - 2:30 EST (1:00 - 1:30 CST). If you have time, please tune in and maybe even dial up to say hello on the air.

After the candy is put away, the costumes removed, settle down and join It Matters Radio for a night of terror, shock and music. Eight Authors and one band share short stories, flash fiction, poetry and music.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Awakenings featured a post titled Made in America on September 7, 2013. As a follow-up to that post, I have invited Made In America (USA) Products (of which I am a member) to share with us additional information about products that are actually made in America, yep! right here on US soil!It all started with the question, "Where do you shop for products made in the USA?"

You ask where I shop for products Made In USA. I can tell you I have a website that answers your question partially: http://www.MadeInAmericaSC.com. This is 2 years in the making. Not only will you find products #MadeInAmerica, but you will find more than 60 #MadeInUSA supporters.

On the website is a collection of over 3000 Made In USA products, the results of over two years research. Over 800 nearly 9000 followers are product manufacturers. So there is an abundance of possibilities for locating USA made products.

Don't limit it, however, to just shopping online. Interestingly enough, you can buy Made In America (USA) products in many stores, even in ones you may not immediately think possible: Bass Pro Shops, Dick's Sporting Goods, Old Time Pottery, Wal-Mart (yep, read the labels!), Home Depot, Lowe's, and don't forget your local grocery store.

As for me personally I do NOT buy clothes that are NOT made in America anymore. For example, my jeans: Texas Jeans. Underwear: UWear USA. There are so many, many more. It is easy to find sporting uniforms, baseball caps, baseball/softball gloves (Nokona and others), etc. Basically with a little searching you can find just about anything you want. Do the research!

To sum it up, here are recommendations for Made In America (USA) products: 1) Read labels 2) Research products on the Internet 3) Use the Made In America website 4) Ask on Twitter (use #MadeInAmerica hash tag)

Don't have the time? Need some help? Tweet directly to me (@MadeInAmericaSC) and I will try to find the product just as I would for myself. Doesn't get any easier than that!

Lastly, a little advice: "Deny the pressure to buy the so-called 'Brands' and stop trying to 'keep up with the Jones'. Instead, set your own trend! Be PROUD that your stuff is purchased smartly, with research, specifically #MadeInAmerica. You can save hundreds of dollars a year by only buying what you need (not what you want). You will become the trend setter. If you couple this with only spending what you make, cut out the CREDIT, you give a double hit to the #American economy. How cool is that?"

Follow me on Twitter, join my site, and most important - BUY AMERICAN! On Twitter, as @MadeInAmericaSC, you can search using my Twitter Name, and #MadeInAmerica in one search, that will bring up tweets about American Products. ~Skip Mackenna

RESOURCE FOR HALLOWEEN MADE IN USA

For Halloween Candy, Baskets, Home Decor & Decorations Made in the USA.

Monday, October 28, 2013

October is anti-bullying month. A classification that certainly implies bullying is of concern.Is it? Is bullying a dynamic
issue? Unfortunately, YES! Is it limited to pushing someone into a
fight? NO! What about age? UNLIMITED! Where does bullying occur?
EVERYWHERE!

A young hoodlum revels in making the lives of others truly miserable. Why? What lies at the core of a bully? Insecurity, anger, frustration, abuse, wannabe, cowardice, just plain meanness? None of these, all of these? There are a plethora of possibilities BUT none excusable.

Much like the bull with its animal instinctive behavior to be aggressive, such lies the nature of the bully. The bull is lean, muscular and supremely strong. Just the sight of him can be intimidating. The bully is often overpowering in speech and physical appearance, especially in the eyes of his/her victim. A major difference, however, is the bull is usually intimidated to the point of provoking a fight whereas the bully is the one picking the fight.

The bull is strong

not easy to tame

About the bully

can't we say the same?

With October being anti-bullying month, let's take a moment to look at the who, what, when, where, why of the bully...

WHOis the bully?The intimidator, the overbearing, the aggressor, the unwelcomed, the hassler, the abuser, the jealousWHATis the bully?Negative, negative, negative– negative
attitudes, negative thoughts, negative beliefs, negative feelings,
noticeable rejection and isolationWHEN does the bully strike?Any hour, minute, second of the day or night...there is no sacred hour!

WHEREdoes bullying take place?At home, at school, on the playground, at work, at the mall, on land, at sea, in the air, in the military, over the Internet, on a cell phone ... literally anywhere!

WHY does the bully bully? Social issues, jealously, envy, lack of social/personal skills, attention, get what one wants, lack of discipline, punitive atmospheres, lack of family ties

Another unfortunate factor about bullying is the fact it is not limited to just one type. There is a wide range of ways in which bullying occurs: physical or psychological; verbal or emotional; blatantly or subtly; singling someone out or leaving someone out. It is intentional, hurtful, threatening usually within a power imbalance.

The aggressiveness of the bull

makes it difficult to control The hostility of the bullyspins him out of control

With October being anti-bullying month, what can be done to simmer the bully and/or prevent further abuse?

How
to Stop Bullying: Deal with Bullying Behaviors when Children are Still
Young - See more at:
http://cherryevasquez.tateauthor.com/uncategorized/how-to-stop-bullying-deal-with-bullying-behaviors-when-children-are-still-young/#sthash.6spws7Jj.dpuf

There is no pat answer, no switch to turn the bully off, no magic eraser. There are avenues of intervention to hopefully make bullying less in the present, more a thing of the past. Today, you are invited to join Cherrye S. Vasquez, Ph.D. Cherrye is an avid proponent of anti-bullying. Her many articles, interviews and books focus on diversity, character and effective communication. She is a very highly qualified professional.

Author Cherrye Vasquez
is a public school administrator and an adjunct professor. She is a
Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum & Instruction; a Master of
Education in Special Education; and a Bachelor of Arts in Speech
Pathology/Audiology.
.
Vasquez specializes in Multi-cultural education and holds certifications
in Early Childhood Handicapped, Mid-Management and Educational
Diagnostician.
.
She lives in Houston with her husband, Roy and her daughter, Kelly.
. - See more at: http://cherryevasquez.tateauthor.com/about-the-author/#sthash.oRtJWXWB.dpufAuthor Cherrye Vasquez is a public school administrator and an adjunct professor. Among her accolades are many accomplishments, including Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum & Instruction, Master of Education in Special Education, and Bachelor of Arts in Speech Pathology/Audiology.

Author Cherrye Vasquez
is a public school administrator and an adjunct professor. She is a
Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum & Instruction; a Master of
Education in Special Education; and a Bachelor of Arts in Speech
Pathology/Audiology.
.
Vasquez specializes in Multi-cultural education and holds certifications
in Early Childhood Handicapped, Mid-Management and Educational
Diagnostician.
.
She lives in Houston with her husband, Roy and her daughter, Kelly.
. - See more at: http://cherryevasquez.tateauthor.com/about-the-author/#sthash.oRtJWXWB.dpuf

Author Cherrye Vasquez
is a public school administrator and an adjunct professor. She is a
Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum & Instruction; a Master of
Education in Special Education; and a Bachelor of Arts in Speech
Pathology/Audiology.
.
Vasquez specializes in Multi-cultural education and holds certifications
in Early Childhood Handicapped, Mid-Management and Educational
Diagnostician.
.
She lives in Houston with her husband, Roy and her daughter, Kelly.
. - See more at: http://cherryevasquez.tateauthor.com/about-the-author/#sthash.oRtJWXWB.dpuf

How
to Stop Bullying: Deal with Bullying Behaviors when Children are Still
Young - See more at:
http://cherryevasquez.tateauthor.com/uncategorized/how-to-stop-bullying-deal-with-bullying-behaviors-when-children-are-still-young/#sthash.6spws7Jj.dpu

Cherrye shares two powerful video poems that provide insight into the bully-ee and the child bully. If the videos do not appear, click HERE!

It
is a must that we help both children, the bully-ee (the victim), and
the bully (the perpetrator). There are far too many factors and
variables at stake. - See more at:
http://cherryevasquez.tateauthor.com/#sthash.EJ93F6gJ.dpuf

"It is a must that we help both children, the bully-ee (the victim), and the bully (the perpetrator). There are far too many factors and variables at stake."

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Wyatt Earp is a legend in his own time with multitudes of historical facts to his credit. There is only one true Wyatt but many have portrayed (or tried at least) his character through the years. See how many you remember as you step back in time...

While Flynn does not go by the name of Wyatt Earp, the movie is obviously based on the gunslinger, as he tries to clean up the streets and bring justice to the famed Dodge City. Errol Flynn was always noted for his swordplay but proved himself quite capable as a gunfighter.

Randolph Scott, Frontier Marshall (1939)Randolph Scott made history by playing one of the first screen versions of Earp. The film produced many memorable quotes. The first comes early on when the coroner
pronounces that a man’s body is “Too badly punctured to hold whiskey.” Earp presents the film's tagline, "I'm the law in Tombstone, from now on it's up to you whether the city or cemetery grows the fastest!"

“My Darling
Clementine” builds up to the legendary gunfight at the OK Corral, but it is
more about everyday things--haircuts, romance, friendship, poker and illness. Wyatt Earp is usually shown as a
man of action, but Fonda makes him the new-style Westerner, who stands up when
a woman comes into the room and knows how to carve a chicken and dance a reel.

Former buffalo hunter and entrepreneur Wyatt Earp arrives in the lawless cattle town of Wichita, Kansas. His skills as a gunfighter make him a perfect candidate for Marshal but he refuses the job until he feels morally obligated to bring law and order to this wild town.

Lancaster holds a strong performance that set the standard for future Earp's. The movie's true star, however, is still the OK Corral with its legendary shootout that gave the movie its name. Interestingly enough the elaborately staged scene took a record 44 hours to film for a mere six minutes of screen time. The fight, however, bears no resemblance to the actual battle. It was a 30 second long, face-to-face affair with only a few firearms, not a medium-range, heavily armed shootout. That's Hollywood for ya!

Classified as the least essential Earp, Stewart plays the former marshal for laughs. When Warner Bros. Studios decided the film ran too long, they chopped the wholly unnecessary but very funny episode involving a poker-obsessed Wyatt Earp (James Stewart). Contrary to popular belief, this episode was included in the earliest non-roadshow prints of Cheyenne Autumn.

Famed marshal Wyatt Earp is sent to clean up a lawless mining town on the Mexican border. Madison brings to life the legendary Wyatt Earp. One of the best scenes in the movie is the fistfight between the bandit Bogan and Earp.

Wyatt Earp, hero of the badge or cold-blooded killer? Considered the sequel to Gunfight at O.K. Corral, Garner was cast in Hour of the Gun as the gunslinger legend Earp, instead of Lancaster a decade earlier. The beginning credits yield two groups of men prepared to converge upon one another. No dialogue is
needed to heighten the tension, and the tone is set by the onscreen text
at the conclusion of the credits: "This picture is based on fact. This
is the way it happened."

A successful lawman plans to retire anonymously in Tombstone, AZ. Disrupted by the kind of outlaws he was famous for eliminating, Russell nabs the appearance of the 'wanting to get rich in obscurity' Earp. A band of outlaws, The Cowboys, commit random acts of violence coming into confrontation with Doc Holliday & the Earps, leading to the shoot-out at OK Corral.

Where the West seems so wild the shootsouts become tiresome or so it seems...is it really necessary to have so-o-o-o much gun-slinging? Just how much is fact vs. fiction is debatable but it is noticeable that the 30-second fight at the OK Corral lasts 42 seconds for which it may be forgiven. It is the actual events within that span of time, as well as the backgound of the incident, that is disputed.

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About Me

Sharla is a graduate of Troy State University and an educator with a flair for writing in poetic verse. Her latest book, Awakenings from Then ’til Now is available from Tate Publishing. It is dedicated to those who laid the foundation and established the platform for our American freedom: those who have served in the past, presently serve, or will serve our military forces in the future. A profound appreciation is extended for the sacrifice of these brave men and women who left or will leave their homes and family to ensure America’s freedom endures.

A grave price is being paid every moment of every day of the year for all the freedom America has to offer. Let us not forget those who have fought or are fighting for our nation; they are the epitome of the human spirit called freedom!